"The push for a $15 starter wage has negatively impacted the career prospects of employees who were just getting started in the workforce while extinguishing the businesses that employed them. I wish it were not so. But it’s important to document these consequences, lest policymakers elsewhere decide that the $15 movement is worth embracing."

The links I have listed above show what happens when the regressives on the left fall/pressure others to support union leader lies and radical environmentalist lies impacting job growth; when the regressives shut down the moderates and don't stand up to and deny greed on the left; when the regressives with no clue or vision to create prosperity suggest impractical solutions that hurt the people they claim to protect.

And specifically in Humboldt, when regressives fall for activists, businesses and political wannabees who are two faced, play both sides and you have only a couple of media sources brave enough to bring public the information and facts.

6 comments:

The technology for robotic hamburger flipping is as old as remote control toys. But now we're seeing the practical applications of all that tech as just about everything you need to run it fits on a device one can carry in their pocket. There is the "robots takin' our jerbs!" angle to it, which is partially true. However, to counter that, another opportunity exists that people would be wise to jump on if their job is replaced by a robot: the coding, manufacturing and repair personnel. We're not at the point of say, Battlestar Galactica where the cylons try to kill us all. Or SkyNet from Terminator. But someone has to fix those machines, and those are slowly becoming high demand jobs because robots aren't self-healing. I don't fear the future of tech as a job industry killer, but it is morphing, and well....there's a lot of packaging that needs to be recycled with all those parts coming off the line, so someone will be in need of people to take care of such things. ~TMOB

Excellent point about the servicing aspect of robotics. The original article is a guest commentary on the Forbes.com site by the former president/ceo of McDonalds, and while it decries labor unions it doesn't mention any of the fast food businesses that pay well above minimum wage--and thriving. (Hello, In-n-Out.) It also had this funny excerpt:

"Earlier this month, McDonald’s announced the nationwide roll-out of touchscreen self-service kiosks. In a video the company released to showcase the new customer experience, it’s striking to see employees who once would have managed a cash register now reduced to monitoring a customer’s choices at an iPad-style kiosk."

So, still employees, just monitoring the kiosks instead of manning the registers. (And if you've ever used the self-service kiosks at Safeway or Walgreens you might anticipate that they'll need employees for some time yet.)

Rensi also pointed out that the SEIU had spent money on the campaigns for a $15 minimum wage. "Reuters reported last year that, based on federal filings, the SEIU had spent anywhere from $24 million to $50 million on the its Fight for $15 campaign, and the number has surely increased since then."

According to BusinessInsider in 2012, McDonald's spent $963 million A YEAR in advertising.

And I don't know much about the site this link is from, but in regards to why some companies can seemingly afford to pay a living wage and thrive while others can't, http://www.triplepundit.com/2014/02/n-can-pay-lot-minimum-wage-cant-mcdonalds/

Robotics will have their place. So long as I don't need it to predict how my day is going to be when I can look out of a window. GPS and robotics in farming, which leads into the bread or beef that McD's sends to it's fanchisees, and that leads to everyone clamoring about whose job is about to get lost because.....I don't know, pick an argument and who is running for office.

As far as self-serve kiosks as say, Safeway and Kroger/Fred Meyer? I've used them for almost 20 years now in other places. Best thing that potentially displaced employees can do, even as my aging ass is getting, is keep up with it. Industry is a slow creep, and there is time to learn a new skill and not feel left out by the younger generations in a hurry for everything. ~TMOB

Before robots, they need to perfect the technology where scanners know you are placing an item in your bag after you have scanned it. Then a car that drives itself, safely. And technology that downloads a pot of coffee, perfectly brewed.Only then, will I be impressed.

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